Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Thank you to many of you who requesteda tutorial on this pouch. This wristlet,measuring approximately 6 3/4" x 5",has some fun features including three insidepockets for cards and a chap stick and a littleloop outside the pouch that holds a key chain.I have been making tons of these pouches justbecause this project is simple, easy, quick, fun,and quite addictive, so I hope you enjoy this tutorial.

We start off with twenty four 2 1/4" squares.(Once again, seam allowance of 1/4" isincluded unless otherwise noted.)Twelve of them will be one side, andthe other twelve go to the back side.

We now take the twelve squares that come toone side of the pouch. Then we'll makepatchwork strips of columns.

Fun ;)

After you have four strips, it's time to press.

Pressing seam allowances like this will makeyour finished patchwork piece less bulky andit helps to ensure that each corner of a squarepiece matches with corners of other squares around it.

After repeating the same process with the rest oftwelve squares, we have two patchwork panels.

Then we'll fuse each of them onto a pieceof medium to heavy weight batting. I liketo use quilting spray for this processrather than using fusible batting.

The quilting style here is totally up to you.Zig-Zag stitching is fun and quick, butwhat I've been doing is this; quiltingvery close to both sides of each seam,and the short edges..

like that.

Then we cut off the excess.Fun part ;)

Now let's move onto making a handle.We need two strips; one linen pieceand one cotton piece. If you'd ratheruse cotton for both two strips, Irecommend that you use interfacing.(Just like how the handles for thelunch bag are made.)

Once again, this is just like makinghandles for the lunch bag andthe fabric basket.

Folding each long edge toward the middle..

Then top-stitching both long edges.

If you want to attach a loop for yourpouch, cut out one rectangle piecemeasuring 1" x 4".

Just like the handle, we fold andpress this piece like this and..

top-stitch both long edges.

We will now machine-baste the handleand the loop you made onto one ofthe patchwork panel close to thetop right corner like this.

Now let's work on the lining. We needtwo pieces for the lining and one piecefor three pockets.

Take the pocket piece, fold it in halfwith right side together, and sew theone long edge together.

So your pocket looks like this.Not so cute, so let's turn it inside out.

And press. That's much better :D

Now take a ruler and one of the lining piecesto attach a pocket onto. I like to leaveabout 1 1/4" above the pocket.

Then sew the bottom edge of the pocket

so it looks like this now.

Using a water soluble pen, draw these lines.The two pockets on the left are going tobe for your cards and one on the right isfor your chap stick, if you like to carry one.

In this image, there is no sewing done at theshort edges of the pockets, but I recommendyou sew very close to those edges just so thatyou'll deal with less pins later.

Let's now attach a 7" zipper. I know thatdealing with a zipper is a bit intimidatingfor a beginner, (I used to be terrified at thistoo) but it is actually not that hard. Trust me.After attaching a zipper in several differentways, I found this way the easiest, so if youare a beginner, I hope you'll follow thisstep-by-step instruction ;)

Oh and I have to tell you that Zipit is a great place toget zippers! The owner Jennie is extremelynice and generous and her zippers are justthe best! Fastest shipping too :DI don't think I'd ever buy zippers fromanywhere else. yeah, that's how muchI'm in love with the shop, hehe.

So here, I make sure that there is more than1/4" from the left edge of the lining piece tothe metal part of the zipper. This way, we canavoid sewing onto the metal, which will breakyour needle instantaneously. (Don't ask me howmany needles I have broken this way, lol)

Remember to use a zipper foot that probably camewith your sewing machine that should look likethis one in the image above. With a zipper foot,start sewing from the end of the zipper.Here, your zipper is completely closed.

Stop, once you sewed it half-way and liftup your zipper foot.

And bring the zipper-head to the very end,lift down the foot again, and keep sewing.I've found that it is very important to alwayshave the zipper-head very far from where I amsewing. It is quite difficult to keep stitchingstraight if a zipper-head is near the foot.I do this moving-zipper-head for every singlepiece I attach to a zipper.

With the zipper completely closed,we'll attach another lining piece onto thezipper. This time, we can't really see a zipper,but as long as you can make sure that the pieceis aligning with the zipper, it's totally fine.Oh and don't forget to move the zipper-headwhen you sewed it half-way just like you didfor the other lining. (I hope I am not annoyingyou by repeating this, lol, it's just sohelpful to do it that I can't stress enough.)

When both lining pieces are attached to thezipper, it looks like this. Nice :)

Take a patchwork piece that has a handleand a loop attached. We are sewingthis onto the zipper now.

Like that.

This is how it should look like.Now we will attach the other patchwork piece.

This time, it's a little different, becausewe start off with the zipper completely open.Then when we come to half-way, we close upthe zipper to keep sewing.

After all the pieces are attached,it should look like this.

This is optional, but you might want to sewthe top of the lining just to make sure itwon't be too puffy and in your way when youopen the pouch. Here we want to make sure thatin this process, we don't have our patchworkpanel underneath the lining piece being sewn.

With right sides together, pin both patchworkpanels together and do the same for the lining.

Make sure to fold your handle inside

and to have your zipper about 80% open.

Sew the dotted line, with at least 2.5"

opening at the bottom of the lining.

Cut off corners and excess,and flip it inside out from the opening.

Hand-stitch the opening closed will completeyour wristlet with these three pockets ;)

How about adding a key chain here..?

This is so much fun that I really hopeyou'll sew up some of these! I am off tomaking a few more because I have my oldfriends visiting from Japan this weekend!Oh how I am excited. I am picturingthem with these pouches at the Farmer's market. Yipee!

This is another stroke of brilliance on your part! you explain things so clearly. I have recently overcome my zip phobia - I did a course called "the zippers clinic" at a place called The Make Lounge in London (UK) - I've been ordering loads and loads of zips on eBay ever since! It's a holiday weekend in the UK this week - so I'll be having a crack at this one! Well done! (oh and been meaning to congratualte you on your gorgeous new husband!!.Xx

thank you so much for this tutorial! i've already made the basket and i'm so happy with it. so happy for your explanations! i do have 1 question though.. i simply do not understand how you make the handles. i get this part:Folding each long edge toward the middle..

but after that... i don't understand, maybe i'm missing a step. cause in my eyes, when i "Then top-stitching both long edges" (the next step), i don't undestand how you get the different fabric on both sides of the handles... do you cut it in have than? can you please help me out a bit with the handle making thing? thank you so much! (if it's possible: revlie.schuit AT gmail.com

After making the bento bag yesterday I wanted to make something else straight away.So I made this pouch! I will be posting a picture on my blog soon so I will link to your blog. Its another great tutorial! Thankshttp://miya-miya-kl.blogspot.com/

OMG! I love to sew, I am quite creative and when I saw this, I thought "it's amazing. I love the inside so much that I included it in my own wristlet. So thank you so much for a decorative inside that pairs well with my funky outside :)Michelle

Thank you very much for sharing this tutorial - I am dabbling in some sewing projects and I loved this one right away! I blogged about my version of the wristlet and I linked here. Looking forward to working with the lunch box / bag tutorial next!!

Thank you so much for your detailed directions! It came out terrific. My only concern, do you happen to h ave any helpful hints for the lining? My lining ended up a little more poofy than I'd like although I did top stitch to the zipper... Thank you for sharing your talent!

hai ayumi, what the name of the white fabric, inside the pouch, is it silicon press? were do you buy it? medium to heavy weight batting--- what is it? I liketo use quilting spray for this processrather than using fusible batting--- what quilitng spray and fusible batting, I'm really new in pacthwork, sorry bothering you much ayumi. thank you very much

the white fabric is fusible batting right? and use it by sew it or use by spray adhesive on the batting and attach it to the fabric without sewing? what method do you use ayumi? sorry bothering you so much. thank you

Anonymous-The fabric I used for lining is print cotton fabric (I believe it was by Alexander Henry.) I bought it a long time ago at Hart's fabric in Santa Cruz, but if you search around, you may be able to find it online. Batting is the white soft-looking thing in the pictures that keeps your pouch nicely firm. You can google batting and find many different kinds of them. I use a quilting spray that can be found at a local fabric store. Quilting spray helps your fabric to be attached to batting temporarily - it makes the quilting process a lot easier. The use of quilting spray is not really a replacement of sewing. I use quilting spray first to put together batting and fabric and then I quilt (sew). I hope this helps! Good luck on making your wristlet :)

Hi Ayumi Thank you for your nice helpSo the white fabrib attach the pouch is batting, I'm really new about it, thank you. may I know where do you buy this batting online, and what kind of batting do you use? thank you in advise

Hi and thank you so much for this great tutorial!!I've tried to do one wristlet for me and I think I'll try again, I need to learn more ;)Anyway, I've linked you on my blog, I hope it's ok :)Last thing: please, come back soon on Etsy, I would like to see your shop!!!xxx Simona

I have done another oriental patchwork wristlet. Please kindly have a look . :) Thanks again for your tutorial. I just love to do it so much!http://stitchnsing.blogspot.com/2011/06/oriental-patchwork-wristlet.html

Great project! I just wanted to let you know that we featured this project on our Facebook page with almost 12,000 fans. We’d love it if you’d use our Featured Blogger button, available at: http://www.dailycraft.com/thank-you-for-crafting/. Our audience loved the project and we look forward to sharing more from you. Please let us know if you have any questions or projects you’d love us to feature! Thanks!

A tutorial to sew a bag like this one is perfect because I spend a lot of money buying bags in the store and this is the perfect opportunity to change my mentality, thanks so much for this tutorial it has been something really simple for me.

Hii just stumbled upon your blog and i was inspired to make on of these last night i have been sewing for years for profit and decided to take a year off and sew just for fun. This was so much fun thank you for sharing.

Hey Ayumi! I love this pouch! I made one, too. And I shared it on my blog (it's a very new blog, i started it at the weekend). If you want to see how it looks like: ein-sternchen@blogspot.com. The site is in german, but I told that you have a great tutorial for the pouch.

This is great! It's a really nice improvement on a zipper bag, of which I've made a few copies already. Now I'll move on to this improved version and make a few more! Thank you for the excellent, clear instructions!

Vicki (email address is vicki with the domain of twissa dot com. You know how to put that together...;)

These are totally addicting! I think I have made about 6 of them. I use them as snack bags for the kids and myself. I have put a link back to here from http://notyournormalsteam.wordpress.com/2012/08/31/never-say-never-bags/

Thanks for this! I have never sewed a zipper in my life, and your steps made it so easy! I've made two in the last two days. Check them out if you're interested!http://olivesoriginals.blogspot.com/2012/12/small-zipper-wristlet.html

ok, just made one of these! I didn't do the patchwork...I used a bandana fabric. and I used a ribbon for a handle instead of the fabric handle. I am just lazy that way.the only part I messed up on was when we stitched all the way around all of the pieces before we turn it right-side out. I think I sewed over the zipper too much and it looks funny. it still works though and I am VERY happy with it. I needed one with the little pockets inside. your instructions for putting the zipper in were great! they intimidate me very much. thank you again for your awesome tutorial. I will be taking my wristlet everywhere I go!!

Making the pouch as I type....Really enjoying it. I have never sewed a zipper before so this was a good test. I use a pouch in work for my phone, some coffee money and lipstick. I added a small outside pocket for my ID badge too so it will be just perfect. Thank you so much for sharing and making so many of us smile!

I have made my second wrist let and for me this time & very happy with the results So glad this tutorial is always available. Thank you for sharing and for the easy directions. The next project is the bag for my sister. Yeah!!.

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Thanks for stopping by my blog! My name is Ayumi. I love sharing my crafty journal and other little anecdotes in my life here. I am a mother to a baby girl and a wife to my husband from Seattle. We live in a small apartment in Tokyo. I hope you enjoy being here :) Welcome♪